Throughout history, there have been numerous traditions of
meditation and all of them are, in one-way or another, attractive to people of differing
dispositions. Yoga, Kundalini, Transcendental Meditation, Sufi, Zen, Samatha, Vipassana,
and Satipatthana are some examples. These traditions have continued generation after
generation without falling out of practice because they all bring about benefits to
people. While they are recognised as meditation, all of them may not produce the same
benefits, and they do not claim to do so either. But they yield good results; in doing so,
they attract many serious minded people around the world. Of these meditations, Yoga,
Kundalini, and Transcendental Meditation have come from Hinduism. Sufi is from Islam, and
the rest of them have been introduced by Buddhism.

The other religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Jainism
have their variations of meditation as well. Yet, they are not as widely practice d as the
one we mentioned above. All these examples show that the practice of meditation is not
limited to one or two religions. Rather, it is a common aspect of many religious
traditions. Even some philosophies like the Vedanta system emphasise meditation in their
systems. The scope of the present study, however, is limited to Buddhist meditation.

The history of meditation reaches beyond the known history
of mankind. According to archaeologists, a figure of a yogi found in the Indus Valley
Civilisation indicates that yoga practice could have existed in the first Indian
civilisation itself. Ever since yoga and other forms of meditation have been essential
practices in Hinduism. The Buddha's life story gives detailed accounts on the advanced
yogis from whom Siddhartha Gautama learned yoga practices. Some of these pre-Buddhistic
teachers had achieved eight dhyaanas as well as the magical skills based on their
trance states. Under these teachers, Siddhartha mastered the teachings of meditation
within a short period of time. He was even offered teaching positions by these masters,
but Siddhartha refused their offers and continued searching for more by experimenting
further with the techniques of meditation. Siddhartha's achievement which made him a
Buddha was the result of these experiments. Somewhat like the Buddhists, who has the
Buddha to lead them in practice, the Sufis of Islam claim that their meditation started
right from the beginning of their religion as the Prophet Mohammed himself practised it.

Obviously, the history of each religion is a long one, as
well as the history of meditation within each religion. The Buddha taught his disciples
and these disciples taught theirs. From master to master there have been individual
approaches and interpretations to the original practices. When Buddhism was received by
Chinese, Japanese, Tibetans, and Southeast Asians, they added their own methods and
interpretations. Japanese Zen and Tibetan Tantra are good examples of such expanded
versions of Buddhist meditation. Again the scope of the present study does not allow us to
discuss the long history of Buddhist meditation. Here we will be limited to a few
experiments and comments which can be more useful to our lives today than its historical
events and developments.

We have already noted that before achieving the Buddhahood
Siddharta Gautama developed dhyaanas as well as the supranormal skills based on
them. This type of meditation is known as samatha because by calming down one's thoughts
and by cultivating the power of concentration one's mind reaches the states of dhyaana.
Thus, samatha meditation came from the pre-Buddhistic practices. What actually led
Siddhartha to the Buddhahood was his own experimentation in meditation. This new
meditation is known as Vipassana which means insight or penetration into reality.
Vipassana is Pali term and its Sanskrit term is vidarshana . It is through vipassana that
one can attain Nirvana, the Absolute or the Goal of Buddhism. Even the one who has
mastered samatha does not attain Nirvana; he has to develop Vipassana in order to see
Nirvana. An essential step of vipassana is satipatthana (i.e. mindfulness or awareness).
Through satipatthana the meditator becomes aware of the present moment of life, each and
every movement of his or her physical and mental existence. That kind of awareness is
essential to have penetrating insight into the physical and mental phenomena which
encompasses the whole world.

2. Experiments

Recently the present writer had done several experiments
with Professor James W. Boyd at Colorado State University. At one point I suggested to Dr.
Boyd that he should meditate on the feelings. Here what I mean by feelings is necessarily
gross feelings like anger or anxiety, but any mental or physical feeling like pleasure or
pain. The following was my instruction:

Being aware of your feelings is traditionally know as
vedanaanupassana satipatthana. When you eat ice cream you enjoy the taste of it. That is
rasa vedana. Rather than letting your thoughts wander about something else or somewhere
else, keep your thoughts on the action of eating ice cream and the taste of it. Being
aware of the act of eating ice cream belongs to the kaayaanupassana satipatthana,i.e.
awareness of bodily movements. Being aware of the taste of ice cream belongs to the
vedanaanupassana satipatthana, i.e. awareness of feelings. To reiterate, eating ice cream,
it is done with satipa.t.thaana, can bring the highest realisation of reality. While
eating ice cream, one can step beyond the every day pattern of existence. By the way, one
does not have to sit cross-legged in a lotus position to eat ice cream. Let us try it.

Dr Boyd agreed. After doing satipatthana meditation on
eating ice cream he sat at his computer and recorded his experience. His computer gives
this report:

I purposely selected one of my favourite flavours of ice
cream, double dip, I was quickly aware of my tongue, the taste of cold ice cream on it. I
tried to be observant of my response to the taste, and eventually saw that just as I
swallowed there was a desire for more. As I tried to continue that awareness of attachment
to the taste, on about three occasions I became aware that as I paid attention to the
desire, it was neutralised somewhat. I asked myself at those moments if I craved another
bite; there was no sense of craving. Habitual inattention brought me in and out of this
awareness, however, even with something so appealing as ice cream.

Dr Boyd, by using his favourite ice cream, is practising
satipaltlthana meditation. I talked to him about Buddhist philosophy using the same
practical experience. One philosophical point was brought into our conversation in
analysing Dr Boyd's remark, I tried to be observant. In satipatthana meditation, the
meditator realises that there is no dichotomy between I and the observant . The observant
and I are one. When the meditation goes deeper and deeper, the meditator sees that there
is no dichotomy between the feeling and the observant. Feeling itself assumes to be me or
the observant . When the process of feeling is seen clearly with satipatthana, the feeler
disappears. In absence of the feeler, observant, or ego, the meditator becomes in touch
with the flux of life or the stream of existence. Religiously speaking this is not a
simple achievement. If one has gone this far in meditation, that person will always have
the right attitude towards life and world altogether.

In the above-mentioned computer report Dr Boyd has said, I
asked myself at those moments if I craved another bite; there was no sense of craving .
That was the second philosophical point he learned from this particular meditation. Using
satipatthana while eating ice cream, he himself observed how his craving for ice cream
faded away. He overcame his craving, at least his craving for ice cream. On the other
hand, he does not hate ice cream, so he maintains the right view on eating ice cream.

After he had this meditational experience, Dr Boyd claim
that his teaching ability improved considerably. Before the meditation he taught Buddhism
only from books, but now after meditation he teaches Buddhism from his own experience.
Before he was able to discuss Buddhist philosophy from his book knowledge but now he
teaches it with personal understanding. When satipatthana is applied to other fields of
teaching besides Buddhism, he finds it to be very effective.

Another experiment I have done with Dr Boyd is walking
meditation. I asked him to be aware of his feet when he walked. Slowly I directed him to
be attentive to the raising of the feet from the ground, the moving of the feet over the
ground, and to placing them on the ground. In this exercise he had to pay continuous
attention to walking; the movement of his feet. After this practice Dr Boyd has recorded
his experience in the computer thus:

I quickly realised that I had to slow down and, at first, I
became aware of the bottom of my feet as I placed them on the asphalt. Then I eventually
became aware of the roll of my feet in an arching movement. As I became aware of my
walking, the sense of sequence was there, and also a sense of the press of my feet against
the floor and the lightness in lifting them. Later there was a strong awareness of motion,
and heaviness.

Normally one does not notice any of these details in
walking although everyone walks daily. Only when one becomes mindful one sees the minute
details of one's walking. Similarly in being fully attentive, one can take note of all the
movements taking place in daily living.

A step beyond the physical movements is thought. The
meditator begins to see his or her thoughts. Just like he or she recognised the movements
of the feet, he or she begins to recognise the rising, continuing, and the fall of each
thought. Thus, characteristics like impermanence of the physical and mental entities
become revealed to the meditator. Seeing these characteristics is vipassana. This way
satipatthana leads to vipasana. The progress of vipassana meditation depends on
satipatthana meditation. And one's progress towards enlightenment depends on vipassana
meditation.

Although satipatthana,
vipassana, or Zen can be done in walking or any other position, people usually think that
a sitting posture is the best position for a meditator. Anyone's mental picture of a
meditator is that of the lotus posture. Several reasons account for the popularity of the
lotus posture. The cultural and historical background in India is a major one. It is a
habit of Indians to sit in lotus posture. The Satipatthana Sutta [1] itself makes special
reference to it as a way of getting ready to do certain meditations like the meditation on
breath (anapana sati). Obviously, the meditator's lungs remain fully expanded and spinal
cord stays straight when one sits in lotus posture. This helps lungs and brain to function
freely. Besides, it is a stable and settled position for the meditator. It is not unusual
for a person to fall asleep when the mind becomes calmer and calmer. If it happens the
meditator will not get injured, because he or she is steady in his or her sitting position
itself. We can imagine what could happen if one falls asleep during the walking
meditation. Therefore sitting posture, especially the lotus posture, is a firm and
balanced physical position for the meditator.

3. Psychology

We have been referring to the ancient scriptural teachings
and traditional practices. Therefore, at this point of our study we must find out what
modern researchers have done in the field of meditation. First of all modern researchers
have recognised that the meditator's brain functions are distinct from that of the
non-meditator. In addition it has been discovered that the meditator's brain is not
subjected to habituation process whereas all the others live as victims of habituation of
their brains. See the following two experiments.

Electroencephalographic Analysis of Meditation

In 1963 a fascinating and unique report on Zen meditation
was presented by Dr Akira Kasamatsu and Dr Tomio Hirai of the Department of
Neuro-Psychiatry, Tokyo University. It contained the results of a ten-year study of the
brain wave or electroencephalographic (EEG) tracing of Zen masters.

The EEG tracing revealed that about 90 seconds after an
accomplished Zen practitioner begins meditation, a rhythmic slowing in the brain wave
pattern occurs known as alpha waves. This slowing occurs with eyes open and progresses
with meditation, and after 30 minutes one finds rhythmic alpha waves of seven or eight per
second. This effect persists for some minutes after meditation. What is most significant
is that this EEG pattern is notably different from those of sleep, normal walking
consciousness, and hypnotic trance and is unusual in persons who have not made
considerable progress in meditation. In other words, it suggests an unusual mental state;
though from the subjective reports of the practitioners, it does not appear to be a unique
or highly unusual conscious experience. It was also found that a Zen master's evaluation
of the amount of progress another practitioner had made correlated directly with the
latter's EEG changes.

Another finding of the same
study concerned what are called alpha blocking and habituation. To understand these
phenomena let us imagine that a person who is reading quietly is suddenly interrupted by a
loud noise. If the same sound is then repeated with a few seconds later his attention will
again be diverted, only not as strongly nor for as long a time. If the sound is then
repeated at regular intervals, the person will continue reading and become oblivious to
the sound. A normal subject with closed eyes produces alpha waves on an EEG tracing. An
auditory stimulation, such as a loud noise normally obliterates alpha waves for seven
seconds or more; this is termed alpha blocking. In a Zen master the alpha blocking
produced by the first noise lasts only two seconds. If the noise is repeated at 15 second
intervals, we find that in the normal subject there is virtually no alpha blocking
remaining by the fifth successive noise. This diminution of alpha blocking is termed
habituation and persists in normal subjects for as long as the noise continues at regular
and frequent intervals. In the Zen master, however, no habituation is seen. His alpha
blocking lasts two seconds with the first sound, two seconds with the fifth sound, and two
seconds with the twentieth sound. This implies that the Zen master has a greater awareness
of his environment as the paradoxical result of meditative concentration. One master
described such a state of mind as that of noticing every person he sees on the street but
of not looking back with emotional lingering. [2]

EEG tracing is only one example
found in modern research. Psychology plays a large role in the modern world and meditation
is essentially a psychological affair. Therefore, it is worthwhile for us to compare and
contrast briefly the modern psychology with the Buddhist psychology. The Buddha teaches
that the world is operated by mind (cittena neeyati lk), [3]
pleasure and pain, happiness and sorrow, progression and regression, in brief the whole
human civilisation is a product of thought. An individual's future and the future of all
mankind depends on our power of thinking. The role of consciousness is nicely stated thus
in Buddhist Meditation and Depth Psychology:

If the basis of Christianity is God, the basis of Buddhism
is mind. From the Buddhist viewpoint, mind or consciousness is the core of our existence.
Pleasure and pain, good and evil, time and space, life and death have no meaning to us
apart from our awareness of them or thoughts about them. Whether God exists or does not
exist, whether existence is primarily spiritual or primarily material, whether we live for
a few decades or live forever - all these matters are, in the Buddhist view, secondary to
the one empirical fact of which we do have certainty; that is the existence of conscious
experience as it proceeds through the course of daily living. Therefore, Buddhism focuses
on the mind; for happiness and sorrow, pleasure and pain are psychological experiences.
[5]

In this comparative remark we
represent Western psychologists. While Buddhist psychology, including meditational
application of it, downgrades methodology, Western psychology gives the highest possible
place to it. For instance, John Marasca, a professor at Ohio State University reports at
the American Psychological Association Convention [6] that a telephone survey of 1,282
women and 749 men was the chosen method for obtaining data regarding men and women. In the
field of meditation such a method is not considered valid or reliable enough to reach
conclusions regarding human consciousness. Relying on the telephone conversations with
that many men and women, psychologists have decided that women suffer more distress than
men. Accordingly, women experience symptoms of distress such as sadness, anger, anxiety,
malaise, and physical aches 30% more often than men. The comparison of men and women
further shows that women experience sadness and anger 29% more often than men, anxiety 30%
more, malaise 38% more and physical aches 36% more than men.

These numbers are very valid statistically. For instance,
at working places precautions can be taken according to the number of men and women
employed so that the negative outcomes of distress can be avoided. Pharmaceutical
companies can focus more on female clients to sell their drugs prescribed for distress.
The results of such research can be used for various practical purposes like these. From
this we can learn the methods of Western psychological research as well as the
applications of them. The pattern here has been questioning a certain number of people,
analysing their answers, arriving at conclusions, and working according to those
conclusions. In this method of research and its application some essential human questions
have been put aside. Although the conclusions are made on numbers lie 30% and 38% (No
doubt these numbers are attractive to the readers) the fact remains that feeling of
sadness or anger really takes place in individuals. The cure of them also can be achieved
by individuals but not by large number of men or women collectively. Although more than
enough such psychological research is being done, such research is not helping enough
individuals to eliminate sadness, anger, anxiety or malaise.

Besides, modern psychologists recognise mental qualities
like anger and anxiety as normal human qualities. When these mental dispositions grow into
a state of insanity the patient will be treated and cared for, otherwise, they are
accepted as normal human conditions. Because of this influence very responsible people and
social leaders argue for justifiable anger and even just wars . On the other hand
meditation is applied on an individual basis and it regulates mental dispositions.

4. Psychotherapy

Cognitive therapy has become a major outcome of psychology
today. This is not surprising at all because a greater part of life is mental; even the
physical body is operated by the mind. Mental health should be maintained in order to live
a happy life. Medication is for mental health and it can be use for psychological therapy
as well. Buddhism in Psychology presents several case studies in which meditation has
helped the patient to overcome mental problems. Awareness of feeling (vedanaanupassana) is
the meditation applied in the following case. As shown previously, this medication is
taught in the Satipatthana Sutta. When one is aware of the feelings that exist on the
surface of one's mind, gradually the hidden feelings begin to be revealed by themselves.
In using the particular meditation, awareness of feeling, one can take one's feelings
under control and manage them in a productive way. See the following case study.

During a group therapy session, a 22-year-old married woman
who suffered from what had been diagnosed as an endogenous depression expressed despair at
her inability to feel anything anymore , relating a total lack of emotion. The only
feeling she could identify was one of gloom and depression. She was asked to begin to get
in touch with her feelings, becoming more aware of, and carefully and accurately labelling
any emotion she experienced as she sat quietly watching her breathing or even during her
normal daily activities.

Over the next few weeks she
found herself increasingly naming anger as her predominant emotion, and it became possible
to identify the source of that anger in her marital relationship. She then gradually
became aware that she had been misinterpreting her emotions over many months, mistakingly
believing that she had been experiencing depression whereas strong elements of anger,
hostility, self-abasement, and disappointment had also been present. This recognition of
the feelings she had been inaccurately labelling depression freed her to identify other
feelings as well. Soon she was back in touch with the full spectrum of human emotions. Her
depression disappeared and was replaced by a greatly improved self-image and understanding
of her feelings. [7]

We have already noted that from the modern psychological
viewpoint anger, anxiety, and such other emotions are normal human qualities. Buddhism
differs in this case from modern psychology. Buddhism treats anger, desire, lust,
delusion, jealousy, and many such human qualities as abnormal. Because one is not yet
enlightened one lives with these abnormalities. Thus there is a vast gap between what it
means to be a normal human being in Buddhist psychology and that in modern psychology.
What is normal to one is abnormal to the other and vice versa. It is interesting to see
how this difference is understood (rather misunderstood) and expressed by the Western
researcher. For instance, one states: "Thus while we in the West see disillusionment
in a negative light, connoting disappointment, or a bitter and cynical attitude to life
for Buddhism is of central value, and it is what the Buddhist seeks". [8]

5. More on Meditation

Even a normal person needs meditational therapy in order to
make progress towards enlightenment. If one is satisfied with the usual and habitual
worldly life one might not make any attempt to walk a religious path or experiment with
meditation. As one should notice, higher benefit of meditation is received by the normal
and sane persons. These people are not trying to correct some abnormal mental states,
rather they are trying through meditation to achieve the highest spiritual goals possible
for mankind. Therefore, now we must go back to the Satipatthana Sutta for further
instructions. In addition to the two meditations, kayanuppassana and vedanauppassana, the
same Sutta teaches two more meditations. Being aware of thoughts or mind itself is
cittanupassana. Similarly, being aware of certain particularities such as attachment,
hate, love or compassion is dhammanupassana.

If we look at the four Satipatthanas - body, feeling, mind,
and dharmas, (Kayaanupassana, vedananupassana, cittanupasana, dhammaanupassana), they
become subtler and subtler gradually. Compared to feeling, body is gross. Compared to
mind, feeling is. And compared to the dharmas, mind is gross. When body is no longer
moving, it is easy to concentrate on feeling, when body and feeling are settled down it is
easy to concentrate on mind. And when body, feeling, and mind are settled down it is each
to concentrate on dharmas. To be mindful of mind or dharmas certain concentration is
needed. Clearly sitting down quietly helps one's mind to see itself and to see the content
of one's mind. Seeing one's mind is a very essential step in the process of meditation.
This is the doctrinal reason for the sitting position to become so attractive to the
meditator.

Nevertheless, we should not go to an extreme and cling to a
sitting position or lotus posture as if it is indispensable to meditation. Nirvana can be
realised in any posture. To give a simple example by referring to a meditation previously
discussed, I should say that one does not have to sit cross legged in order to eat ice
cream! Not only the mindfulness of body, but that of feeling, mind, and dharmas, is also
possible in other postures like sleeping, standing, and walking. The following examples
should be closely examined to decide whether the sitting posture or, for that matter, any
fixed posture is needed to succeed in meditation.

The Commentary to Theri Gatha,
Paramattha Dipani, records that Terika attained enlightenment while watching the leaves
that she was cooking in a pan in her kitchen [9]. When this happened she was a lay woman
with all her household affairs. According to the Commentary, one day as Patacara was
pouring out water to wash her feet she watched how the water ran on the ground and sank
into soil. This scene opened her mind to enlightenment [10]. When Uppalavanna's turn came
to clean the assembly hall, she completed her duty and for a while she was watching the
lamp she lit up in the assembly hall. This outer light kindled her inner light and she
became an arahant [11]. Dhamma Theri one day was on her way back to her nunnery, and as
she was old and weak she fell down on the way. Then she was mindful of her fall for a
while and became an arahant [12]. Similarly The Commentary to the Suttanipata,
Paramatthajotika, states that a king of Varanasi attained enlightenment when he was
watching the movement of many bangles his queen was wearing when she was pounding
sandalwood to make scented powder out of it [13].

It is an important lesson for us to learn from the above
examples that there is no fixed posture for fruitful meditation. Although Patacara was
standing, and Dhamma was fallen on the ground, their bodily postures were not obstacles to
their enlightenment. One could lie down and meditate just as one could walk, stand or sit
and meditate. When I claim that meditation while lying down also is an authentic posture,
my friends sometimes have taken it as a joke, laziness or fake meditation. Not only any
posture but also by bodily movement, for instance the rising and falling of the abdomen,
bending and stretching of arms or legs, inhaling and exhaling breath, or even blinking of
eyes, can be meditated on. Awareness or mindfulness can be kept on any bodily movement or
even non-movement by the meditator. Any posture or non-posture could be effective in
meditation. The scriptural support for this claim comes from the often cited Satipatthana
Sutta itself.

Here the Buddha has taught the meditator to be attentive
when he or she is going forward, returning, looking straight ahead, looking in other
directions, bending arms-legs- or body, stretching out arms- legs- or body, getting
dressed, wearing any thing, eating, drinking, tasting, using the toilet, walking,
standing, sitting, sleeping or lying down, waking, talking and remaining silent. In short,
the Satipatthana Sutta teaches that one has to be mindful all the time. It is clear that
in each and every bodily movement one must be alert. All the time, through and through
one's daily living, one has to be attentive to each and every action.

The same commentarial examples and the scriptural reference
testify to us that meditative awareness does not require designated special objects for
meditation. Any object or any event can serve the purpose. The characteristics of the
world are present in everything and in every motion of the world. When one's mind is sharp
enough one is able to comprehend the true nature of reality. That is what meditation does
to the mind, it develops insight in the attentive mind.

It is like the famous physicist observing a falling apple.
The law of gravity exists and works everywhere and that particular apple is not the only
thing that ever fell to the ground. But maturation of the scientist's wisdom and his
observation coincided with the fall of that apple. And he was observing it with his
intellectual awareness. He was paying enough attention to that particular event in the
nature. So it opened his insight into a universal principle. Meditative attention works
the same way. Anything or any event like the movement of bangles or a flame of a lamp can
be the right object of meditation for a meditator. Depending on the state of maturity the
meditator has achieved, any sight, sound, or any event can bring about enlightenment and
see the true nature of the world.

A word about setting a timetable is also in order. To
meditate one does not have to set a timetable. Some meditators make timetable like setting
a half an hour in the morning and another half an hour in the evening for meditation
practice. Others may expand that time to be one hour, two hours, or three hours at a time.
There are some others who meditate through much longer periods of time as well.
Practitioners create these timetables, some masters set these timetables as well. But the
fact is that the Buddha has not made such timetables. A fixed time for daily practice
serves very little function in meditation. Our bodily postures exist always and our mind
is always active. Under that situation feelings and dharmas always arise. Thus all four
satipatthanas are readily available all the time. Besides, as we saw sitting is not the
only position in which one can meditate. Therefore, one can meditate any time rather than
maintaining a fixed schedule for it.

Regarding a quiet place, we must take the middle path, a
balanced attitude towards it. A quiet place is helpful to achieve a quiet mind. A peaceful
place brings a peaceful effect on thoughts. However, a sound or a scene is not always
hostile to meditation. Any sound or scene can be used as the object of meditation. A song
of a bird or the roaring of an air plane could disturb a meditative mind. Yet, what the
awareness does in this case is taking the same disturbing sound into the process of
meditation. When the sound becomes a part of the mind this way, the sound is no longer an
outer hindrance. That sound does not conflict with the inner thoughts. In this manner of
meditation a fight between the inner thoughts and the outer sound does not go on in the
consciousness of the meditator. Of course, continuous disturbance can be hard to deal
with, otherwise, sound or scene should not be very distractive to the one who is dwelling
in awareness or mindfulness.

Likewise, one does not have to be stuck into a designated
room, seat, or environment every time one meditates. Certain individuals prepare their
meditation rooms or even halls following detailed models. These are not very essential for
the satipatthaana. Any forest, open air, water front, house, temple, monastery, city,
street, vehicle, or other place can be the right place for a person to become mindful.

Just like in sitting meditation, in walking one does not
need a particular walking-path for meditation. In forest hermitages yogis make camkamana
(sakman maluwa in Sri Lanka) to practice walking meditation. Understandably it is a
necessity in a forest. Yet, when one is away from the forest, there is no need to build
special paths for meditation. Any indoor or outdoor space is good for walking meditation.
What is needed is to keep one's awareness on walking wherever one walks.

A fixed timetable and a fixed place exemplify the habit
forming activities of some meditators. One can get into rigid and stereotype practices
through these habits. By being mindful, as seen previously, one is trying, to be free from
unconscious habits one has built up throughout life. Instead of doing so, the meditator
can create new habits out of the meditative activities themselves and be attached to them.
His or her new habit forming activities are not going to liberate him or her from the old
habits, instead, unconscious habits will multiply. Such habitual activities can bring
reverse effects to the intended goals of meditation. A habitual mind increases attachment
instead of freedom and such a mind becomes unsharp or dull instead of clear. A sharp mind
penetrates reality.

When the mind becomes unsharp or dull it will live in
unreality. And it is noteworthy that meditational activities themselves make the mind dull
if they are applied improperly.

When we were very young we learned to walk and it has
become a habit to us. There is no meditation in habitual walking. It becomes a meditation
when the walker pays his or her attention to the act of walking. Just habitual movement of
the legs is not meditation. Only when one is aware of the movement of one's feet, does
that act of walking become a meditation. If the meditator slows down the habitual movement
of the feet, then, paying attention becomes easy to the meditator. Gradually one begins to
see some occurrences one has not hitherto seen clearly. For instance, raising a foot,
moving it, and placing it, become as distinctive from one another. This kind of walking
meditation has been emphasised by the Venerable Mahasi Sayado of Burma. The present write
learned it under the supervision of the late Venerable Sumatipala when he was the
meditation master at the Kanduboda Vipassanaa Centre in Sri Lanka. Each time of raising
one's foot one begins to feel lightness in that foot. When one places the foot one feels
the heaviness and its touch of the ground. Being aware of such feelings of the feet
belongs to vedanaanupassana satipatthana. Being aware of the movement of the feet belongs
to kaayaanupassana satipatthana.

The meditator may experience attachment to the pleasurable
feelings of the feet. Then immediately the meditator becomes aware of that particular
attachment. That belongs to dhammanupassana satipatthana. Thus all four satipatthanas can
be done in walking posture itself. If awareness can turn the habitual action into
meditation is it a special kine of awareness one has? Is this meditative awareness
different from the ordinary awareness? I would say that they are not qualitatively
different. Yet quantitatively there is a difference between the two. Normally we are aware
of what we are doing and what is happening, for instance, we are aware of the act of
eating ice cream when we eat ice cream. that is only a small quantity of awareness. The
meditator applies high intensity of awareness in his or her act of eating ice cream. Only
then does the meditator see the flux of life and nothingness and the nature of craving.
That living experience brings about a life of philosophical understanding. It is the
intensive awareness of the flux of life, but not just a simple awareness that brings about
insight into reality. Yet, the ordinary awareness itself can be intensified to the extent
of comprehending the whole process of living i.e. the depth of being itself.

That insight into reality is a realisation of the truth. A
scholar or a non-scholar with Western or Eastern upbringing or influence can hold onto
certain stereotyped notions of reality, philosophy, religion or spiritual path. Buddhist
meditation cuts through all these preset models and faces reality as it is. Therefore, the
model of meditative path has to be discovered by individuals through doing meditation. On
can speculate all theories, philosophies and beliefs concerning the truth or the goal of
life. But speculation is not even close to the actual seeing of it. Instead of talking
about a path, model, or a goal one must actually engage in seeking it. The intensive
awareness of the process of living is the actual engagement. A psychologist helps us to
understand the difference between the common mentality and the meditative insight.

As a consequence of its stress upon awareness of
watchfulness, Buddhism offers us not a clear-cut model of humans but a set of techniques
for each of us to find the model (or better still experience that model) for ourselves.
This is one reason why Buddhism cannot be classified as a philosophy or even perhaps as a
religion in the strictest Western sense. It does not teach us about ultimate reality so
much as teach us a method for experiencing that ultimate reality, or (more accurately
though more perplexingly) for experiencing the fact that we ourselves are that ultimate
reality. [15]

Thus habitual action can be meditated on. What about
non-action? Accordingly to the Satipatthana Sutta itself the meditator must be mindful
while he or she is standing, sitting, sleeping and being silent. These moments seem to be
non-active, yet, the meditator is active even at these moments. In other words to the
meditator non-action also is action. We could say that the fact of being non-active
becomes the object of meditation at that point. It is a matter of going from gross state
of being into a subtle state of being. Bodily movement is gross compared to bodily
non-movement. Talking is gross compared to being silent. And the gross state is easier to
objectify or to be aware of than the subtle state. Therefore by shifting meditation from
the gross state to subtle state, mind itself moves into a calm state of being.

Not knowing that even non-action becomes action to the
meditator, some people develop a wrong notion that the meditator is withdrawing from the
social life, closing his or her eyes or mind to the world, and being cut off from what is
going on out in the surroundings. Studies show, however, that even in sitting meditation
one's mind and other senses become sharper and more alert. It is not a process of making
oneself dull and ignorant to the outside world. A meditator becomes more sensitive than a
non-meditator.

The above quoted EEG experiment has proved that the
non-meditator's mind becomes insensitive to the environment and his mind functions on
habituation while the meditator's mind remains alert to the outside world. This is
paradoxical to meditative concentration. Simply because the sensitivity becomes sharper in
the meditative mind, the meditator becomes more and more sensitive to the condition of the
world. People and their pleasure and pain become almost like a part of the meditator
himself or herself. That is how he or she grows in compassion. He or she cannot remain
aloof doing nothing about the suffering condition in the world. As much as with his quiet
meditation he or she becomes involved with people, other living things, and rest of the
world in a positive and helpful manner instead of running away from the fellow humans and
other beings. The true nature of the meditative mind being a sensitive one, there is no
closing of such a mind to the world. Because of the strength of such a mind it could
remain uninjured by the worldly situation. However, with the same strength the meditative
mind works to eliminate the suffering of others and goes out to serve the world. Such is
the paradox of the quiet mind. Contrary to the quiet mind, the noisy mind just drifts on
habits seeking more and more pleasure, and becomes insensitive to others feelings and
needs. If many practised meditation, this world will be a compassionate, caring and loving
world.

Although meditation practice is not limited to the
Buddhists, as a concluding remark I would like to point out that the goal of meditation is
the goal of Buddhism. They are one and the same. Therefore, the religious path of Buddhism
and meditation are inseparable. The well-known Eightfold Path itself incorporates
meditation as three of its strands - Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right
Concentration. Thus if anyone is following the Buddha's teaching he or she should walk the
Eightfold Path; in other words he or she should practice meditation.

As some people conveniently
think, meditation is not something for one to pick up later in one's life or even in one's
future lives. The contents of the Eightfold Path are not eight steps for one to pass one
by one and to reach the eight of the last step at the end of one's religious life. They
are eight strands which grow together in helping each other. Meditation helps wisdom and
ethics, and in turn ethics helps meditation and wisdom. When one grows in wisdom it is
easy for one to meditate and live an ethical life. Similarly if one meditates it is easy
for one to grow in wisdom and ethics [16]. Buddha taught his path to include all eight
aspects from the beginning to the end. All of them mature together, but not separately or
one after the other. Because they are not steps to be taken one at a time, meditation is
not something to add to the religious life somewhere down the road. Rather, it must be
present from the beginning of one's religious life and it must grow into the advance
states gradually together with other strands of the path. Therefore, one should not
postpone meditation until the last phase of one's life or one should not wait to meditate
until one gets closer to the goal of religious life. Truthfully speaking, the journey on
the Buddhist path does not start until one starts meditation. [17]

NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Diigha Nikaaya, 22. Any
edition or translation of the Diigha Nikaaya should have the Satipatthana Sutta. This is
the major source of the meditation on awareness. Because this sutta or sutra is one of the
longest in the Tri Pitaka, it comes in the Diigha Nikaaya which is the collection of the
longest discourses of the Buddh

Professor Shanta Ratnayaka gained his B.A.(Hons) from
Jayawardhanapura University (Sri Lanka) and completed his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at
Northwestern University (USA). At present he is the Professor of World Religions at the
University of Georgia.

Professor Ratnayaka is a distinguished scholar and has been
involved in acadamic and community oragnisations to further the knowledge of Buddhism and
other Asian philosophies. He is currently the President-Elect of the Association of Asian
Studies in the USA (Southeastern Region).

Zen is the Theravada Branch of Buddhism in Mahayana
Countries (Gordon Fraser)

Process and Philosophy and Theravada Buddhism

Philosophical Implication of Pali in Buddhism (in
press).

His articles have appeared in many international journals
and he has presented papers at international conferences such as the American Academy of
Religion, Association for Asian Studies and the International Association of Buddhist
Studies.